Thursday, February 6, 2014

Actually, I Can See How This Could Happen...

Police say a Hingham, Mass. woman got a very rude awakening when she was attacked by a raccoon in her own bed.Hingham Police say the 73-year-old woman thought the raccoon was her pet cat and tried to pet it.

Many years ago, the Mrs. and I were camping down on Cape Cod. We were in a private campground with electricity and water, and had set up a small television set on a cooler for our after-dinner entertainment (don't judge). Sitting in a camp chair, eating a plate of very good campfire-cooked chicken and potatoes, I felt something furry brush up against my leg. Since my parents had three cats at the time, having dinner-time company of the four-footed variety was not an uncommon occurrence, so I did what came instinctively.

I reached down and petted the nice black cat with the white stripe down its back...

Fortunately, the skunks in that area are quite used to people and was, in fact, trying to scavenge a meal, so I was not forced to bath in tomato juice that evening. I looked down at the "cat", realized what it was, and made very slow and deliberate motions to stop petting it - at which point it looked up at me as if to say "I didn't say you could stop." Once he realized he wasn't getting a free meal, he waddled off into the brush.

So, yes, I can understand why this woman would have instinctively petted the furry animal in her bed...

At the range (in a county park) I work part time at, we have a "wild" raccoon that frequents the dumpster, waddles around the fence line all the time looking for a free meal. Frequently up in a tree with a snack he found. He's not bothered by gunfire at all. Some of the more brave (or foolish) will hand feed it. He's affectionately known as "Rocky" and is well known to park officials that have tried to relocate him twice with no success.

When I was in high school my best friend and I went camping at a state park near home. We both had wrist rockets and were prepared for any wildlife that might wander into camp scrounging a meal. Until the skunk showed up. We spent about an hour sitting in my buddy's car arguing about whether or not to try to use the horn to scare it off. (I voted no, because it was my tent that would get gassed.) The skunk didn't care; he helped himself to our left over French toast and chocolate pudding, then ambled off.

Skunks are usually mellow animals. If one wanders into your campsite, you simply ignore it and don't do anything rash or sudden to scare it, and DON'T feed it. Eventually, it will wander off.

Of course all bets are off if there is a dog involved.

My dog killed a skunk in our backyard, and got sprayed in the process. After dealing with the odoriferous dog, I was tasked with getting rid of the skunk carcass. It had the softest fur I had ever felt.

I like skunks, despite the never-to-be-forgotten incident involving the double foundation beneath the dining room, the hibernating den of multiple skunks, and scaring said den.Possums, however, are shot on sight. (Which, thanks to the rifle I finally bought and copious practice I can now do) That has to do with a nasty thing called Equine Protozoal Myloenchephalitis. Coons may or may not be shot. I have killed one with hoe though. What is that about anything to hand being a weapon if you need it badly enough?

Reached down once to pet the black and white cat that lived in our grain room. "Cat" raised his tail and made threatening movements...Backed away successfully and thereafter always turned the light on before entering grain room

I used to work in a restuarant in my younger days,came home around midnite usually,and sometimes a bit tipsy...My mom had a cat that slept in a box on the patio.Fumble with my keys,heard the cat stirring,reached in and petted it,close the screen door.The next morning during breakfast,there's a possum on the patio!

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